Environment Secretary Steve Barclay has written to Thames Water confirming his decision to grant the utility’s request for a Development Consent Order (DCO) which will eventually see the Teddington direct river abstraction scheme designated as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.

The Teddington scheme is one of 18 projects currently set out in the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) programme to develop strategic water resource solutions to strengthen water resource resilience in England and Wales.

At the beginning of November 2023 the water company had formally requested the Secretary of State to direct that the principle elements of the proposed Teddington Direct River Abstraction project should be treated as a development of national significance for which development consent is required under section 35(1) of the Planning Act 2008.

Image source: Thames Water Overview Teddington Direct River Abstraction Autumn 2023

Writing to Nevil Muncaster, Strategic Resources Director at Thames on 22^nd December, Steve Barclay noted that the proposed project included:

• tertiary treatment facilities (TTF) with an output of up to 75Ml/d of recycled water (located at Mogden STW in the London Borough (LB) of Hounslow);
• a water transfer pipeline between the TTF and the outfall discharge infrastructure referred to below;
• an outfall connection pipe and outfall discharge structure with an output of up to 75Ml/d located adjacent to and within the riverbank of the River Thames;
• an abstraction intake with an abstraction rate of up to 75Ml/d located adjacent to and within the riverbank of the River Thames (located in the LB of Richmond Upon Thames);
• a water transfer pipeline from the abstraction intake referred to above to the existing Thames Lee Tunnel raw water main ( located in the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames);
• associated development including upgrade and improvement works to existing water treatment and supply infrastructure, shafts to support construction and operation, temporary works to support construction, works to support operation and maintenance, site accesses, temporary and permanent utility connections, highway diversions and landscaping, environmental mitigation, enhancement and compensation measures.

Thames Water’s revised draft Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP) identified that the project provides the Best Value option for it to move to being 1 in 200-year resilient by the early 2030s. According to the water company, the option is deliverable on the required (relatively short) timescale, is operationally simple, and is inexpensive and low-carbon compared to other available options

The project is required to address an urgent need to secure improved water resilience for London and to develop new water resources to avoid future water use restrictions. The scheme is a key element in Thames’ WRMP strategy for meeting the Government’s demand for water resilience and is identified as needing to be in place by the early 2030s to achieve that objective. The water company says this can only be achieved by “promptly securing a complex range of statutory powers, permissions, land assembly, consents and licences.”

In its detailed submission to the Secretary of State, Thames says “it is crucial therefore that the consenting processes associated with this significant development project are started as soon as possible to ensure that the project is delivered at the earliest opportunity.”

Following the grant of consent and the clearance of any relevant conditional DCO requirements and obligations, construction and commissioning of the project is expected to take approximately 5 years in combination.

As the Project has progressed towards Gate 3 of the RAPID process it is now considered that the most appropriate route for planning consent for the Project is via the PA 2008 regime through a DCO - further to making a request for a Section 35 Direction that the Project be treated as being a project for which development consent is required as a result of being nationally significant.

However, despite the urgent and compelling need for the Project and its significant nature, complexity and London-wide geographical range, the project does not automatically qualify under the PA2008 as a NSIP as water recycling is not a specified infrastructure category under section 14 of the PA2008.

Image source: Thames Water Teddington Direct River Abstraction Project Section 35 Statement

Thames Water’s detailed submission says:

“The project requires consenting by many organisations and across a number of different forms of consent that will best be secured through a single DCO….

“In the absence of a Section 35 Direction, TW would need to submit planning applications for the Project to each of the three LPAs in whose areas the Project would be sited, namely the London Boroughs of Hounslow and Richmond Upon Thames, and the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames. The Mayor of London also has a planning function, under the Greater London Authority Act 1999, and any development works in the tidal River Thames would require a marine licence to be granted by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). There is currently no efficient procedure outside of the PA2008 to bring all of these applications into a single and coordinated consenting regime, and no fixed timescales for the determination of the planning applications including on any potential appeal or call-in.”

According to the water company, a refusal of planning permission by one local authority, or a potential planning appeal or call-in inquiry, or any combination of these, could easily add considerable delay to the delivery schedule. In addition, any significant delay to the project could detrimentally impact on the delivery of the critically important resilient water supply benefits and environmental benefits that it is intended to achieve.

Thames says these risks can be mitigated through the single procedure DCO regime which a Section 35 Direction would unlock. The utility’s submission states:

“The Project is a significant infrastructure scheme of substantial size (equivalent in scale to projects that automatically fall to be in the PA 2008 regime), comprised of extensive and large- scale water transfer pipelines and critical above-ground plant. It will interface with multiple land interests, designations, sites of ecological, landscape and historic interest and other major infrastructure, stretching across multiple local authority and decision-making boundaries and requiring an extensive range of consents, powers, licences and permits, whilst potentially having a range of temporary and permanent effects.”